Into the Deep (I'm No Troll)
by LJF613
Summary: What really happened to Jim When he went into the Deep in the second season? (Set in between S2:E12-13 and in between S3:E10-11)


"Jim!"

He heard a voice calling his name, over and over again, but it was muffled and vague, as if he was underwater. He supposed he was, in a way, but it didn't feel like water. It was dark and cold, but he wasn't drowning. Or maybe he just didn't need to breathe?

_Thump. Thump._

He closed his eyes. All he could hear now was the strong and steady sound of a heartbeat. His? He could feel himself drifting off peacefully, as though he was taking a nap. Suddenly, the blue light from the amulet on his chest pulsed, and he gasped, writhing away.

That sense of peace returned, and he fell asleep just as the last remnants of light faded above him.

_Thump. Thump._

_Thump. Thump._

_Thump. Thump._

His heart

Stopped.

And started again.

_("...to face death at the hands of his greatest fear.")_

Jim stood up unsteadily. Where was he? It was dark. So dark. The only light came from the red glow of his armor. Wait... _red_?

Before he could think about what that meant, he saw another glow, farther off. He ran, bouncing off the wall to gain speed as he tried to follow the purplish light. But then it disappeared. He kept moving, jumping from wall to wall. Had he always been able to move that quickly? Suddenly, a fierce blue light appeared. He got closer, and he realized the light was coming from a large sword.

_Really? I'm..._ here ? Jim couldn't help but laugh as he remembered the last time he'd come to this place. Had it really been only a few weeks ago?

* * *

_A few weeks previously..._

_Jim stood up unsteadily. "Ouch!" Everything hurt. He'd been thrown out of the cage when it hit the bottom of the pit. The Deep, they'd called it?_

_It wasn't really all that deep- the drop hadn't been much longer than a fall off of the crystal staircase that lead into Trollmarket would have been. Maybe he could climb back up?_

_He decided to explore a bit, first. What down here was so terrifying._

_He heard a buzz behind him. He turned back and stepped towards the lantern they'd sent down here with him, but it quickly flickered out._

_Jim pulled out his sword, and it glowed with blue fire, lighting up the dark cavern._

_Suddenly, he felt a whoosh against his skin, as though something had run past him. He turned around, but no matter which way he turned, he couldn't find the source._

_He heard a dark, evil-sounding laugh._

_"Who's there?!"_

_All he heard in response was a roaring growl and another bone-chilling laugh. He turned around again, trying to figure out where the noise was coming from._

_Suddenly, he heard heavy footfalls and clanging metal behind him- and then he was knocked down onto his face again._

_He stood up, wincing, and held out his sword as whoever it was laughed again. He turned around to face his attacker._

_It was too dark to make out a face. But he could see glowing red armor and a sword glowing with red fire- the polar opposite of his blue armor and sword. The figure in red growled._

_"What are you?!" Was that...his Eclipse armor and sword? But...how...what?_

_The red figure growled at him, and Jim shrieked._

_Suddenly, it swung its blade at him. He quickly held up his own sword to block it. He started swing his sword, but the red figure matched him stroke for stroke. Blue, red, blue, red. It was almost as if...the figure in red already knew what Jim was going to do._

* * *

This was it? This was how strong he'd been...before? But this boy he fought was _weak_ . Gunmar would slaughter him!

His face felt strange- had he scratched it? He jumped backwards and carefully ran his hand down the side of his face. No scratch, but he felt _something_ growing out from his mouth. A fang? He had fangs now?

All of this was the fault of that_ boy_ ! If only _he_'d been stronger.

* * *

_It jumped back towards him, roaring angrily._

_Sparks shot off the swords as they clashed, flaming red and blue as they sparred. Back and forth, back and forth. Finally, just when Jim thought he'd scored a hit, the figure in red knocked him a few yards backwards._

_It growled, and Jim screamed again._

_The figure jumped towards him, roaring as it spun through the air. Its blade sliced towards him, but he managed to block it in the knick of time._

_He slashed back, but it was to no avail- whichever way he swung his sword, the mysterious creature would jump over him._

_It leaped above him, jumping from wall to wall. The only way Jim could tell where it was was by the red glow of its sword and the sound of of its maniacal laugh. He turned around and around, trying to figure out where its next strike would come from._

_He heard it land behind him, and quickly moved his sword to block the incoming strike. Their blades clashed twice more, and then Jim was thrown backwards again. His sword was knocked into a rock pile barely a foot away, but before he could reach it, the figure in red had swung its sword down towards him._

_He summoned his shield just in time to stop the blade from slicing through his face. The creature laughed again, and this time Jim was able to make out its face through the red fire of its sword._

_It had bluish skin and white horns. Some sort of troll, he supposed, but its nose was far too human-looking. And there was something familiar about that dark brown haircut..._

_Jim gasped as he realized who the red-armored figure was._

* * *

_"To face death at the hands of his greatest fear," Queen Usurna had said._

* * *

He could see the exact moment his blue-armored past self realized exactly who it was that was holding the red sword.

* * *

_"Who are you?!" Jim cried, trying to deny what his eyes were telling him._

* * *

"You know who I am," he said, pressing his blade against the shield, "I am _you_!"

* * *

_"No! How...why...what?!" Jim didn't understand what was happening._

* * *

"You are _weak_, boy!" He glared at the terrified boy. "The way you are now, you have no hope of beating Gunmar! He will eat you for breakfast!"

* * *

_"No! I _will_ beat him! I will save both worlds!"_

* * *

" _You_? Save both worlds?" He laughed again. "You can't save anyone. You can't even save your friends. You will never be able to bring Draal home!" He felt a tear fall from his face and sizzle as it hit the shield.

* * *

_Was it... _he ... crying_?_

_"I will!" He yelled, rolling away from the red-armored troll-like thing. He grabbed his sword and faced his dark self. "Don't you dare tell me I can't!"_

* * *

He sighed as he matched blades with the boy. Back and forth, red on blue, blue on red.

"I _am_ you, Jim. You will never be able to defeat Gunmar until you can accept that!"

* * *

_"No!" Jim _refused_ to accept it. He was breathing heavily as he fought._

_"I'm!" _Clash!

_"No!" _Zing!

_"Troll!" He managed to hit his other self in the side. He didn't cut through anything, but the red-clad figure collapsed. Then it stood up, jumped back and swung its blad over its shoulder._

* * *

"Your friends are always there for you. But at the end of the day, only you can choose how you're going to fight," he sighed. "And someday soon, you and I will meet again and you will be forced to make that choice." He turned away and began leaping away. But he heard the boy calling behind him.

* * *

_"I will _never_ be you!" Jim yelled, but he didn't know if he was trying to convince the retreating figure- or himself._

_"I'm not a troll."_

* * *

"Keep on telling yourself that," he whispered.

* * *

_Jim climbed up the walls of the Deep, telling himself that it wasn't true, that it couldn't be, and by the time he reached the surface, he was almost convinced._

_"But how did you survive the Deep?" Claire asked when he found her. "No troll's ever come back!" He took her hands in his._

_"But I'm not a troll."_

Yet_, whispered a small voice in his heart._

* * *

He could've followed his past self up the cavern. He could've helped protect Trollmarket from the coming invasion. Maybe he could've even saved Draal.

But Merlin had already shown him the consequences of trying to change the past.

Besides, he had a feeling that the Deep was an in-between place where time had little power. If he tried to climb out, he'd probably find himself in his current time- where Gunmar and his Gum-Gums had taken over Trollmarket. Transforming had left him weak, and even though his past self hadn't wounded him, he was fatigued from the fight, and would certainly not have the strength to fight Gunmar's entire army alone.

So he returned to where he'd woken up, and found a tunnel that lead up to the surface.

The top of the tunnel was solid stone, but he slammed his weight into it and it became an entrance to the outside.

He crawled out into the woods. Something smelled familiar. He looked around and realized that he was very close to home.

He could feel his heart beating hard in his chest.

_Thump. Thump._

_Thump. Thump._

_Thump Thump._

He stumbled his way out of the woods, made it through his front door, and collapsed into his mother's waiting arms.

_Thump. Thump._

_I'm home_, was his last thought before he lost consciousness.

It was only once he woke up that he realized that home...could no longer be _his_ home.

_Thump. Thump._


End file.
